Dawn of the Fox Chapter 2
by Gravvle
Summary: here it is, Chapter 2 is here! and i had to make it like this because i dont know how to add chapters XD


Chapter 2 The big exam: time to step it up!

_"Crap, I'm being pursued. Why can't they just leave me be?! Wait, the.. The trees! There's something..."_

Today was the day. It was the day of the graduation exam. Every villages' exam is relatively the same, but unique in their own way. In the Hidden Leaf Village, they just have a series of questions, and practical tests to do. In the Hidden Mist Village, you must kill your fellow students to graduate. Here, in the Hidden Mountain Village, there is a practical exam only. The object of it is to acquire the scroll that is assigned to you. The exam lasts three hours, and during the exam time, the numerous sensei pretend to be enemy shinobi, and we must use our basic genjutsu, ninjutsu and taijutsu skills to get passed them. It's actually quite fun, but the success rate of passing is every one of two failing. In other words, there's a 50/50 chance. Amane and I have trained very hard for this day, and we hope for it to pay off. I was just waking up when my mom stormed into my room.

"Honey!! Wake up!!"

"Huh? Mom, what's the matter?" I murmured in a sleepy daze.  
"You over slept!! Your exam starts in forty minutes!!" Panic swept over my face. I darted out of bed, and went straight to the shower. My mother assured me that her and my father would whip up a light breakfast, so I wouldn't have to worry while in the shower. I had about a five minute shower, and changed into my clothes in record time. I tied back my hair the way I always did, and ran down the hall to the kitchen. I wolfed down my breakfast, nearly chocking on it. I brushed my teeth, slipped on my shoes, and raced out the door. My heart pounded in my ears. I had taken nearly twenty minutes getting ready. _Stupid eye-liner_, I kept telling myself, _takes too long to put on. I never should have wasted my time with it_. I continued to scold myself as I ran past all the shops that were just being opened, and all the people just starting to come out. _Almost there_. I smiled as I sprinted faster, not seeing the person who was stopped right in front of me. I ran straight into him. Judging from what I felt as I ran into him, he was not much taller than me. My stomach lurched as I looked into his face. It was Saranayo Taugi, the teacher's pet.

"Oops, sorry Yuurie-chan. I didn't see you when I suddenly stopped."  
"It's okay, it didn't hurt much," I lied as I winced in pain, attempting to get to my feet, "why are you here so late? I'd have expected you to be there twenty minutes ago."  
"Well, you see... I.. er.." He turned a bright shade of red, embarrassed of his fault, "I slept in." I tried my hardest to hold it in, but I failed. I burst out laughing.

"What's so bad with sleeping in? That's what I did today."

He explained to me how his parents thought that tardiness was dishonorable. I shrugged this comment off, telling him that it's alright to be late every once in a while. I smiled at him, and decided to walk with him to the academy, even though it was only 2 blocks away. He thanked me, and blushed slightly as we walked together.

We arrived not long after that, and everyone stared at us. Sensei scolded us for being so tardy, because she wasn't able to start without us. But she said it was alright to be late every once in a while. Taugi smirked at me.

"Now class, does everyone remember the instructions for the exam?" Her response was a class full of blank expressions. She sighed. "No? Well, I'll refresh your memories. There are 40 scrolls. Each has a name. You must search for the scroll with your name in it. The exam lasts three, and your fellow Sensei and I will take part in the exam. We will be dressed as enemy shinobi. You must you the skills and jutsu you have learned in class to escape from us. If you only run, you will fail. Regardless of whether or not you found your scroll. Does everyone understand?" We all nodded, and she grinned. "Alright. Let the exam, begin."

We were not allowed to travel with friends. This was upsetting. There was a trail for us to follow, leading from the academy towards one of the shinobi training grounds. It was a large forest, filled with over-sized species of animals. I sprinted on the ground, following the path. Many of my friends went onto the tree tops, but I decided to stick to the path. Over the time of which the exam lasted, many shout were heard. Mostly of Sensei shouting, "Fail!!!" I smirked to myself. _Heh, so many people have been failed. But, the thing that worries me is that Sensei's voice has been getting closer and closer to wherever I am. Does this mean I may encounter them soon?_ Well, unfortunately, I found the answer to my question five minutes later. Sensei and two others stood in front of me. Just waiting with smirks on their faces.

"Ah, it's the slacker, Ramoto Yuurie. How will you fare against enemy shinobi?" She smiled at me. She wasn't _trying _to be mean. It was regulation. She _had_ to say mean things to us. Enemy shinobi wouldn't speak politely to you, no matter how old you were. I smirked, knowing full-well that this wasn't going to be like a training lesson. Sensei would actually try her justu, she wouldn't pretend to know nothing. And neither would I. She and her comrades pulled out shuriken, and threw them _near_ me, not at me. I reached for my lengthened kunai from my holster, and easily deflected them. They then charged me, trying to figure out my actions. I formed the **Tiger, Boar, Ox and Dog** hand seals, and an exact copy of myself appeared beside me. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" I said as it appeared beside me. As they approached, one of the other sensei threw a kunai at my clone, and it dematerialized. I kept running, and they followed. Sensei formed a variation of seals, at lightning speed. A second later, a pink twister flew horizontally after me. I cried as it hit me. _Poof!_ My body disappeared in a cloud of white smoke.

_What?! She used the substitution jutsu at the last minute? I didn't even see her switch_. "Halt!" She called to her comrades as they both stopped in front of her, "Let this one go. She has proven the certain jutsu needed to become a genin." I noticed that they had vanished from where I hid. I chuckled, _they got scared of me! Well, I highly doubt that._ I continued my way through the forest, just as we were instructed. _The scrolls. Where did they say they hid them? Oh yeah, wasn't it the Mission Office? That's on the other side of the forest, down the river. Sigh. Oh boy, this'll take a while_. I climbed onto a near by tree, and began sprinting among the tree branches, looking and listening for the sound of flowing water. It didn't take long before I found it, and it was fairly wide. I took a small sip from it. It was cold, and refreshing. I stood up, and stared down river. They building where people submitted their mission requests, was down the river. It was about an hour walk, but probably only half an hour if I sprinted. I stared into the river, and saw all sorts of colored fish: red, orange, purple, silver, black, even rainbow. I smiled. _I…. I really shouldn't do this, I may get in trouble. But I have to!_ As I debated this in my head, one of the newer academy sensei snuck up behind me. He obviously wasn't informed to leave me be. Without noticing him, I reached into my pouch that held my extra shinobi tools, and grabbed a kunai and an exploding tag. I wrapped the tag around the grip of the kunai, and tossed it into the river. The disguised shinobi sprinted towards me. Right as he prepared to strike, the tag in the water exploded, creating a make-shift Water-element, Explosion Jutsu. The water crashed into him, and he went flying. I sighed. _That.. Wasn't exactly the thrill I was expecting._ I continued sprinting down stream, never departing from its side.

I reached the Missions Office about a half hour later, and saw that not many people were here. This was the part of the exam that my brother said was really hard. You didn't really have to _find_ the scroll with your name on it as if it were hidden. Instead, you have to dispell the genjutsu covering all the scrolls. They all currently say Kagura-Sensei on them. There were over forty scrolls, and only one student was allowed into the scroll room at a time. When it was my turn, only three of the people who made it here had passed. There was also a three minute time limit. So if you couldn't find your scroll in the allotted time, then you failed. I entered the room reluctantly. I knew it would be hard. Using the dispell jutsu wasn't my strongest jutsu, I had a much easier time with other genjutsu. I looked around the room. There were two older looking academy sensei in the dark room, both holding a note pad, a pen, and a stop watch. I let out a large breath. I turned towards the only wall that was lit up, and one of the sensei asked me if I was ready.

"Yes, I believe so."

"Okay, then we will start the timing now." With that, the final part of the exam began. I went to the first scroll, formed the **Tiger** seal, closed my eyes, and said, Dispell. The first scroll was not mine. In fact, the first half of the scrolls weren't mine. I had gone through nearly half of my time as well. _Damn it_, I thought in my head, _I'm almost out of time._ After 13 more unsuccessful attempts, I finally found it. I had done the jutsu, and it unraveled itself. In black characters, it said Ramoto Yuurie. I smiled. The younger looking sensei looked at me, and smiled.

"Just in time, eh?" he chuckled, "your time limit just ran out." I sighed, and followed the other sensei to where the other people who passed were. There were only three other people: the younger Udohora twin named Takato, Saranayo Taugi, and one of the snobby girls that Amane and I always made fun of. Her name was Fugare Mishume. _Amane still isn't here.. I hope she comes soon. I don't know what I will do if I pass and she doesn't…_


End file.
